Next month Focus Features releases Matt Damon’s new movie and the oil and gas industry is worried sick about it. The movie, Promised Land, is about a Pennsylvania farm town deciding whether to go forward with shale gas drilling after a team of landmen arrives in the area. Damon plays one of these…

Friday, December 7, 2012

Think About the Transportation Sector

Superstorm Sandy has made it clear that no matter how hard some politicians try to ignore climate change, climate change will not ignore them -- or any of us. More carbon means higher seas, the kind that inundate subways. The U.S can also thank carbon emissions for contributing to the hottest summers on record, massive wildfires, and crippling droughts. The good news is, we can take some pretty serious steps to cut carbon pretty easily -- and make lives better at the same time.

Think about the transportation sector, which accounts for 27 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from cars and trucks. Tailpipe pollution is also a major source of asthma and other illnesses -- the transport sector contributes 80 percent of the harmful air pollutants that cause 1.3 million premature deaths each year. Road fatalities claim 33,000 lives per year on average, making traffic accidents the number one killer of people under 34 in the U.S. And traffic congestion is known to elevate stress levels and reduce quality of life for millions. READ MORE:

Monday, December 3, 2012

Despite the overwhelming consensus among climate expertsthat human activity is contributing to rising globaltemperatures, 66 percent of Americans incorrectlybelieve there is "a lot of disagreement among scientistsabout whether or not global warming is happening." Theconservative media has fueled this confusion bydistorting scientific research, hyping faux-scandals,and giving voice to groups funded by industries thathave a financial interest in blocking action on climatechange. Meanwhile, mainstream media outlets have shiedaway from the "controversy" over climate change and havefailed to press U.S. policymakers on how they willaddress this global threat. When climate change isdiscussed, mainstream outlets sometimes strive for afalse balance that elevates marginal voices and enablesthem to sow doubt about the science even in the face ofmounting evidence.Here, Media Matters looks at how conservative mediaoutlets give industry-funded "experts" a platform,creating a polarized misunderstanding of climate science.... READ MORE